Chapter 1

Kahana spelled his name four times before he asked her for pen and paper so that he could write it down for her. If he didn’t love his mother so much he might not have forgiven her for his name. He and his brothers believed her when she said that she’d picked their names from a baby book by picking a page number and then a number down in the names. At least he didn’t end up with Penrod. His brother was never able to live that one down.

“Doctor Tattler is with a patient, Doctor Hathaway. If you’d like to have a seat, I’ll let him know that you’re here.” He thanked her and went to find a seat in the over crowded office lobby. He hated doctors with a passion. Of course, he was one, so he thought that he had a better handle on them than most.

Thinking to himself, he was glad now that he’d not asked one of his brothers to go with him. He didn’t know what they’d say right now if they knew that he was in the office of their family doctor waiting on the results of a biopsy that he’d had done several days ago. They’d more than likely pound his head in.

He might not have worried about it at all if not for helping an elderly woman with her end-of-life paperwork all because she’d left a mole on her shoulder go. Just like he’d done for the last few months when it appeared.

That afternoon, he’d scheduled himself a time to have it biopsied. The surgeon, David Kincade, said that he’d do it for him, and no one would be the wiser. Then, he was called out of town to do a special surgery for someone, and he asked him where he could send the results. The only other doctor that he trusted was their family physician, Elon Tattler.

After being weighed and his blood pressure taken, he was taken to a room. This office, like a great many of the offices, this one and his own, were connected to the hospital. All he’d had to do was go to work and leave his area before ending up in the one with Tattler. No need for him to drive anywhere as he was sure he’d have an accident as nervous as he was.

“Your pressure is up. I’m going to just think that it’s some dame you’ve been eyeing rather than these results. Didn’t I tell you it was nothing to worry about?” He said he’d feel a good deal better if he could have the professionals tell him. “You were never trusting as a child, Kahana. All right. Let’s see what we got.

Instead of reading it to him, Tattler handed the envelope over to him. Pulling out the mostly blank sheets of paper, the words across the top said there was no sign of cancer. Lying his head back on the chair, he had to take several deep breaths before he thought he’d not shed the tears that were filling his eyes.

“You all right there, Kahana?” He nodded, and the tears broke free. “Had I known you were this nervous young man, I would have brought them to you last evening. I’m sorry about this. The report also states that your bloodwork came back clear of it as well. You’ll need to keep that wound clean and dry for a few more days, but other than that, I think you’re about as healthy as a horse.”

“I wanted to believe you. I did. But you know how it is when you get something stuck in your head. There is no shaking it lose.” Tattler asked him if he needed to call his parents and brothers. “I didn’t tell them anything. I didn’t want them to worry. I was doing enough of that on my own.”

He looked shocked, and he asked him if he thought that wasn’t right. “Not to tell your family is treading on thin ice, Kahana. They’ll worry about you twice as much now because they’ll believe that you’re not as forthcoming as they had hoped. Trust me on this. They’re going to find out. Someone is going to let it slip, and you’re going to be in the doghouse for a long time.”

“I never thought of that. My only concern is that my dad, you know about his recent illness. Mom’s been fretting over him for the past couple of months. That’s why I did it here and not someplace more specialized on this sort of biopsy.” He told him that was good thinking, but he should have told at least his parents. “You’re right. I’ll tell them…we’re all getting together tonight for dinner, so I’ll tell them all then. I don’t know what I was thinking now that you’ve pointed out to me how hard they’d take this.”

“And if the results would have come back differently, they would have been doubly hurt knowing that you didn’t tell them so they could get you treatments sooner. Or whatever goes on in the mind of parents.” Tattler laughed. “My wife and I had no children, and I’m so old now that I don’t remember even what it was like to be a child. Time sure does slip by, young man. Remember that. They’re not going to be around forever, so enjoy them for as much time as you have.”

He’d had his calendar cleared for the day so that he could deal with whatever was going to be told to him. Deciding that he was going to go and see his parents, he closed up the office, telling the nurses who worked for him that they could have the day off with pay. He made his way home. Lucky for him, he supposed, his parents rarely left the house through the weekend, and he’d have them all to himself. Kahana started perfecting the speech he was going to tell them. By the time he was at their home, he’d cried twice more and had an upset head. Not a headache but his head was stuffy and paining him because of what he was going to have to do.

He saw his dad first. Dad loved to work crosswords and was good at it. When he asked if mom was home, she came into the room and kissed him on the cheek when he hugged her. He didn’t know how to start so he just started at the beginning.

I found this mole, or that’s what I hoped it would be on my shoulder a couple of weeks ago.” His mom started to cry, but she didn’t say anything. “I had surgery just in the office of a friend of mine, and he sent it off to be tested. It’s not cancer. Just a mole like I had hoped it would be.”

“You didn’t tell us because you were worried about me, weren’t you.” Though it was a statement, he told his parents that it was part of it. “I’m not sure if I want to know the rest. While I appreciate your reasons for not telling us when you found it, I’m still not happy that you didn’t ask for our support when you did. We would have been there for you, son.”

“I know that. I honestly did. I just wanted to…honestly, I just wanted to shelter you from bad news. I would have told you if it was cancer, I swear to you on that. Just that…well, I didn’t want you to be fretting over me all the time.” He’d meant it as a joke, but neither of them were laughing. “I was wrong in that. I know that now, Doc Tattler pointed out that I should have told you before.”

“Would you have told us when you found out that you didn’t have cancer?” He told his mom that he’d thought not to worry them. “I see.”

“Mom, please don’t be upset with me. I just didn’t want to worry you. And you would have too even though it came back noncancerous.” He got up off of the chair he’d been sitting in and went to his mom. Bending down on his knees, he took both her hands into his. “I love you with all that I am. You know that, don’t you? No other woman will ever be like you, and I’ll more than likely never get married because I would be comparing them to you, and they’d surely fall short. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I do wish now that I had.”

“Because we’re upset with you?” He said that wasn’t it but that he didn’t have anyone to lean on when he had not told anyone. “You didn’t even tell your brothers? That’s not like you. You share everything with them.”

“I didn’t because I didn’t want them to worry either.” He put his head on her lap and let the tears fall. “I’ve been an idiot in this. Please forgive me.”

“You’re not going to leave me soon. For that, I’m grateful.” She yanked his head up from her lap and looked him in the eye. “You pull another stunt like this again, and I won’t hesitate to take you out to the barn and beat your bottom. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She put her hands on his cheeks and then smacked him. “I deserve that and more.”

“See that you remember that in the future. I’ll not put up with your shenanigans again. Do you hear me?” He told her that he did, loud and clear. “Good. Now, as punishment, you’re going to be peeling potatoes for dinner tonight. And we’ll need a good many of them.” She looked at him again. “I love you, Kahana. I hope you understand that in the future as well.”

“As I said, no one will ever come between my love for you and dad. You’re first in my book no matter what kind of person that I meet along the way to love or marry.” She snorted at him and told him she couldn’t wait until he met the right woman. “I don’t care if I ever meet her, mom. I’m at my happiest just being your son.”

He did have to peel potatoes. He didn’t mind so much, but he was careful with the peeler he was using. The sucker was all kinds of sharp, and he didn’t want to have to go get any kind of medical assistance after today. Besides, he was sure that his mom would knock him off the stool if he were to get hurt peeling some spuds.

Working in the kitchen with his mom was a rare treat. She didn’t care for people in her domain when she was busy, but he had a feeling that she was all right with it today as he’d been hurt. That’s what she’d think of it as too. That she’d not nearly lost him but that he’d been hurt and needed extra care today.

By the time he was finished making tea for tonight, his shoulder was hurting. Asking mom for something to take for it, had her sitting him down to see what had been done. As soon as she pulled the gauze back, her hiss of breath had him trying to turn to see it, too. From his angle, it looked all right to him.

“He cut you so deep. My goodness, I never…I’m assuming that the doctor knew what he was on about. He was, wasn’t he?” He told her who had done it. “Well, I’m going to have to talk to him about this. It’s not what I’d call pretty, is it?”

“It’s swollen right now. I loved it, don’t get me wrong, but doing all this extra stuff here is making it sore as well.” She gave him two naproxen sodium and told him to drink plenty of liquids. He was fine with that, but then she sent him to see his dad. Not that he minded, really, but Dad was asleep, napping was something that he often did of late—so he took the couch, lying down on it and took a nap himself. He rarely got to do something like this during the daylight hours.

~*~

Axel didn’t know what to think when Kahana stopped talking. He was sure that he’d missed a great deal after he said he’d had surgery to remove the mole and to have it tested. Looking around the room, he realized then that he’d missed a lot more than a few things. Everyone was crying.

“But you’re all right now.” Kahana nodded to Audon and told him that he was perfectly fine. “So you didn’t tell us…why?”

“I didn’t want anyone to worry.” Audon pointed out that they could have held his hand or something. “I’ve been told that I should have told all of you. And he was right. But at the time, Dad was just getting home from his stroke. Everyone was worried about him, and I didn’t want to stress anyone out. And before you ask, no I wouldn’t have told you at all after getting the results. I would have if it had been cancerous, but not the way the results came back to me.”

“You were being a selfish prick then.” Mom told him to watch his language. “I am. Trust me, Mom, I am. I’m mad, and I want him to understand that.”

“He’s fine now. And we’re all grateful for that, correct?” She looked at each one of them, and he could tell that she meant for that to happen. But he knew, too, that after they left their parents’ house, he was going to knock his brother around a bit so that he—” There will be no retaliation later either, Axel. From any of you. I mean it.”

They all nodded then she told them that she needed to hear their words. After telling her that they were all right with not beating the crap out of Kahana later wasn’t really want he wanted to do, but he loved his parents and wouldn’t go against their words to him no matter what.

After dinner, they all sat in the living room with Dad to watch some television. It hadn’t occurred to him how old his parents were until Dad had his stroke. It was a small one, they all had been told, but there was still some damage to his heart, and it had terrified each and every one of them.

“Do you work tomorrow?” Axel had to think, then told Kahana no, he was off the entire weekend, too. “My offices are closed due to some work that’s being done there, so do you wanna hit up some auctions with me?”

“Are there very many, or do you have one in mind?” Kahana handed him the listing that wasn’t too far from where they were now. “This is the old Heathers house, isn’t it? I thought that they’d already settled up where all the things were going to go.”

“They didn’t have a will, so it had to be in probate for about the last six months or so. The wife passed away while that was going on, and then they had to do the same for her. Figuring out who got what wasn’t an issue because they only had one son, and he’s in a nursing home. The money from this is supposed to go for his care there. I don’t believe they had any life insurance, either. Besides, I can’t really lift all that much so I thought you and I could get some stuff and you help me get it to my home. What I did today sent me into so much pain that I was nearly sick with it.”

“I’m sorry about that. I’m still mad at you, but I love you. I’m so glad that things turned out the way that they did. I don’t know what I’d do if anything were to happen to any of you.” He said that he felt the same way and took back the listing to point out a couple of things on it.

“There are all kinds of things listed for the household. Trunks, too, that haven’t been opened in decades, I heard. Also, there is a lawn mower that I’d like to look at. When I called to talk to the auctioneer, I was told that it only had about twenty-two miles on it.” He asked him what that meant. “I’m not being a smart ass about this, but I had to look it up as well. It means it’s only been driven for that amount of time. It was used on the flat ground around the house. I didn’t know what that meant either until I asked. I guess if you have someone mowing your lawn for you, you never really know that kind of stuff.

About six months ago, their mom had kicked all of them out of the house. She’d not been mean about it but just wanted them out on their own. He got himself a condo. The others, with the exception of Stamos, had gotten a condo as well. He told his brother that he wished he’d gone the house way instead of living with a bunch of people surrounding him.

“Living in the dorms at college taught me that I wasn’t going to be a good neighbor. The noise all the time and people just walking by my room talking. It was distracting all the time. Then there were the times that they got out of hand with their partying and had to have the police called.”

“You didn’t nark on them, did you?” He said it had been tempting but no, he’d not been the one that had called the police. “I know, too, that even to live off campus was crazy loud. I guess you would have thought that I’d have learned something from that. But I’m house hunting now. Not too much luck, but that’s what I’ve been doing in my spare time.”

In the end, they invited their mother to go with them. She didn’t want to leave Dad alone, but Dad told her that he needed some peace and the outdoors, too. So, the four of them decided to meet up at their parents’ home and then head to the auction. He was excited about that. Getting to spend time with his little brother and parents could be just what he needed to get himself out of the funk he’d been in the last couple of weeks.

Three weeks ago he’d broken it off with a woman that he’d been seeing for a few years. He had just grown bored with her constant whining about how much he worked. She was a partier as well. Nothing that he’d ever been a part of was the night life. But she’d taken it harder than he could have imagined and decided to sue him for breach of promise or something along those lines. He’d won the court case, which didn’t make her happy, and that was when he realized that he wasn’t as in love with her as he’d thought. She was…well, she was convenient. Someone that he could have hanging on his arm when going out and a sex partner when he needed that, too. However, now he was in a bit of a depression because he thought that he’d wasted several years with that woman, and he didn’t have shit to show for it.

Axel didn’t much care for his job either. He was working for a larger firm in the Columbus area and didn’t think that he’d go any further than he was right now. He was an attorney of some notoriety as getting the things done for the clients. But he figured out and should have known better that all the people that he represented were scum balls and shits of the earth that once they were no longer considered in whatever brought them to court, then they would run out and do the same thing again. Christ, he hated people nowadays.

The next morning, he was up with the sunshine. He took a note from Kahana’s book and decided to not just find himself a house but his own business front. Last night, after getting home, not only did he scan the listing again, but he also put in his two weeks’ notice. Axel had enough personal time and vacation left that if they were to tell him that he wasn’t needed the last two weeks, he’d be fine until he found something else.

His college debt was paid off, thanks mostly to the job but that’s about all he had to show for that as well. Sure, he was good at it, but he didn’t care for having to pay his boss for allowing him to work for them. He wanted his own money from now on.

Going to his parents’ home, Mom was feeding Kahana a big breakfast, and he was just in time to get some of his own. He didn’t care for vendor food as a whole, and auction food was usually the worst. Not that everyone who catered to the auctions served terrible food. But he’d been sick a couple of times and was glad that he’d not have to suffer anything when he got home from it.

They were early as usual. It was his mom who liked to get to places early. He supposed that they’d all gotten that from her. She would arrive at some place they needed to be about thirty minutes earlier than it called for.

His parents liked biding on the box lots. They were, like they would be at any auction, spread out over the yard. He saw a couple of things that he wanted and asked his parents to let him know when they were coming up. He and Kahana went to where the tractors, seven of them, were being shown how well they were running by a few farmers that he knew. One of them was Hamilton Fitzpatrick.

About a year or so ago, Hamilton had defaulted on his loan with his own farm equipment. There were a great many people around who had tried to help the elderly farmer, but he wasn’t having it. In the end, Axel had to serve papers to him and then wait around while the bank reposed not just his home and land but all his fancy tractors as well. He didn’t know what he did nowadays, but he knew just how to get the bigger tractors started up and keep them running. Perhaps he worked for the auction house that was out and about today.

“Mr. Hathaway.” He nodded at the man and his wife. “Have you thrown any more old people out of their homes of late?” Before he could answer, not even sure what he’d say to the man, the auctioneer stepped between the two of them with his back facing him and Kahana.

“I told you before I don’t want any trouble, Mr. Fitzpatrick. I also told you that if you were nasty to anyone, you might as well get your gear and get on home. I’ll not have you pissing people off when they were only doing their job. You should have listened to these good people when they tried to help you. Everyone in town knows that. This is your second warning about this, and I won’t have it. Go home.”

“Damned lawyers.” Fitzpatrick stomped away, nearly dragging his poor wife with him. The man was going to cause more trouble if he didn’t miss his bet, and he would have to keep an eye on him. He and Kahana moved out of the area, no more interested in the bigger tractors than he was in his job. They were approached by Mr. Lundon when they went into the house, surprised at how much was in there with all the stuff on the lawn.

“I need your help if you’re interested.” It was Kahana who asked him what it was pertaining to. He was handed a flyer that he didn’t look at before the man started talking. “I gotta sell the house at noon. If no more people than this show up, I’m going to be giving all my profits away and not meet the payments on the boy’s care. I didn’t ask you first and should have started with that. Are you interested in the house? Either of you?”

“I am.” He didn’t know where that had come from as he wasn’t interested in the house. But he did think about it now. It was within walking distance from his parents’ home, close to the downtown area as well as the mall was still only about five miles away. He also liked that there were acres that came with the house that he’d never thought of before. According to the flyer he’d been handed, it was just over two hundred.

“Most of the land has been rented out to other farmers. They rotate their planting seasons by family. One sows winter wheat the other corn or potatoes, whatever they need at the time. It’s been working out for them well, except for this sale has them in a tizzy, as you can imagine. They’re afraid that if someone buys the land, they’ll turn it into strip malls or those rental places where you can store your junk. That’s what the people here did. Had them four of those big ones, and that’s what is out on the lawn. Christ, it was a nightmare setting up for this thing. They were hoarders. Every little scrap of something? They would put it into a pile. We only had to do the lower levels as neither one of them could climb the stairs, so that’s a big plus.”

“I will have to talk to my attorney.” Since he was one anyway, he’d just pull the files that he needed and go from there. “It’s only just eight-forty-five now. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have it figured out.”

The first thing he did was call the bank. He was told that the house needed to be completely overhauled before it would be livable. The banker also told him what he’d be paid in rent for the other parcels should he purchase it.

“It’ll be pretty close to what you’d have in a house payment, Axel. Also, there is a store front that goes with the house. It’s just another house converted into a business, but you can rent it out or use it too.” He asked if he could put offices in the building. “Yes. There is plenty of room and believe it or not, plenty of parking as the building comes with the lots on either side of it. “And it’s in the sale today? I don’t want to hope for the houses only to find out that I bought the farm house and nothing else came with it.”

“No, I assure you, Axel. The house that you’re there with, the two hundred acres as well as the building downtown are all included in the sale today. Nothing is being split up.” He asked a couple more questions, finding out that the furnace was new and there wasn’t any kind of air conditioning in the place. “If you have any questions before the auction, I’m going to be there at ten to answer any questions bidders might have. You’ll get a good deal, Axel, even if you never live in the houses. The land alone is worth that much.”

After getting and estimate on what the property and houses would be worth on the market today, he had a headache. But he was going to buy the house so long as he could get a good deal on it. Renovating the house on the lower floors was going to be costly. He’d need a good deal on the house if he wanted to live there.

At ten o’clock, Mr. Bean showed up. He had more paperwork with him than he’d told him about, as well as the mineral rights to the farm. There was also a land map that he was free to look at, as well as the paperwork on the furnace and new roof that had been put on about three years ago. It was metal and would last for a good long time. He went to talk with his parents, knowing that they’d have information on the place that no one else would have.

“The missus, Opal Heathers, she just couldn’t keep up with the house and land after Richard passed on. To be honest with you, I’m not sure how much they did to the place when he’d been alive, either. Mostly, they went back and forth to the nursing home to see their boy. I think he’s about fiftyish now.” Neither of his parents thought that the boy was able to live on his own. Even with his parents, he would have been a handful. “He has down syndrome as well as autism, poor boy.”

“I think one Christmas, the ladies’ club was going to the nursing home to sing carols. However, the noise that we were making, his nurse’s words because the young man couldn’t speak was too much for him, and we had to avoid the hall that he was in.” Mr. Bean said it was a right shame that he was born like that. “I know that the Heathers couldn’t have loved him more. But when they were getting up there in years, taking care of him was a bit much. And if I remember right, he was a big man…I guess he is our age now. Late fifties to early sixties.”

Axel wasn’t sure if he should bid on the furniture that was with the house. He didn’t own it yet and he didn’t have anywhere to put things until he did get himself a house. Being determined not to let himself get to worked up about it, he decided that if he didn’t get the house, he’d just put the things that he’d gotten in storage and go that route.